Gender Inequality In The Police

When the criminal justice system was established, the main objective was to create neutrality and fairness between the sexes. Even though people might believe that there is no such thing as ‘stereotyping’ in the criminal justice system, it is quite obvious that women are constantly being look down upon because of their sex. In general, women tend to be treated like fragile objects that could break at any moment; the truth is that women can be strong and courageous just like men. Society stereotypes women and the criminal justice system is no different.

Female police officers have been saddled with a stigma ever since they were finally allowed to join their fellow male officers on the force in the 1970’s. It is said that when a female officer is being harsh, she is often called anything other than firm. However, when a male officer is harsh, he is considered firm and just being a man. Female police officers are dubbed incapable of being able to perform their duties equivalent or superior to a male officer simply because she is

TV shows have made some changes since then but policewomen are still being shown as unrealistic, for example the show “Hawaii Five-0” has a female police officer and she is over sexualized. “Hawaii Five-0” last week put on a skimpy bikini to go undercover to make contact with three female surfers who had just killed a business executive during an armed robbery they staged on a Waikiki tourist trolley bus” and “Kono in her tight jeans and high-heeled boots is not only a thin, beautiful, champion surfer but also a skilled sniper who can fire a steady shot from a moving car to knock off a thug rushing to escape on the upper floors of a high-rise”(Fawcett, 2015).

Ernest Duenez, Jr. was killed by police officer John Moody on June 8, 2011. When Ernest pulled into his driveway, Moody shouted to Ernest to put his hands up and drop the knife. However, Ernest had no knife in his hands. Moody fired thirteen bullets and eleven shots struck Ernest on his chest, back and head. His family was completely devastated; they searched for justice for Ernest, while helping his widow with her child, who was just seventeen days away from his first birthday. Tragedies such as this one can be greatly reduced by body cameras. For example, the Rialto study, where police officers wearing body cameras resorted to physical force 59 percent less than those who did not wear body cameras. When wearing body cameras, police officers would not behave negatively in a situation where they may incriminate themselves.

There are many stereotypes that women in the law enforcement field have to face. In order to recruit more women into policing, law enforcement agencies should attempt to overcome the idea that policing is a "male-oriented profession". This paper will cover parts of the history of women police officers, some views and stereotypes of the female officer, job related issues, life outside of the workforce and job satisfaction.

In recent years, recruitment and retention of police officers has been a pain point for many departments across the nation. Odd and inflexible hours, uncompetitive pay, para-militaristic organizational structures, and a negative public perception have all worked to diminish the pool of applicants interested in careers in law enforcement. Add to the mix the sexist “brotherhood” police culture, emphasis on masculinity and aggression, and the nearly non-existent opportunities for advancement for women, and over half of the eligible workforce has been discouraged from even considering a career in law enforcement. In 2013, women comprised just over 57% of the labor force, but accounted for only 13% of sworn police officers (USDOL, 2013; Crooke, 2013). Not only are women sorely underrepresented in the field of law enforcement, but those who are employed experience discrimination at the hands of their supervisors and coworkers, and as a result, the attrition rate for women is often much higher than that of their male counterparts. Departments should pledge dedication to recruiting and retaining more female officers, as research indicates that not only do females perform just as well as males in patrol positions, but they also have a unique set of advantages to offer agencies when employed in law enforcement. In order to improve the recruitment and retention of females into policing roles, departments must determine the biggest deterrents for women who are considering the pursuit

. . the dominant position of men and the subordinate position of women” (Rabe-Hemp 94). As policewomen tend toward their stereotypes, they strengthen the patriarchal organization of the police subculture: the practice of females assuming “roles that male officers have historically not defined as ‘real police work’ . . . devalue[es] the tasks female officers engage in” (Rabe-Hemp 97). Conversely, “women who dare to challenge these roles are isolated [and] harassed” (Rabe-Hemp 94). Therefore, the police subculture strengthens the differences between male and female police officers that society has pre-established through gendered stereotypes. These findings can be viewed from an individualist perspective as opposed to an organizational perspective because the police officers were exposed to these stereotypes as they grew up, long before they began training. Although the police subculture does make it more difficult to break out of these sex-based stereotypes, these stereotypes do not originate from the subculture itself; as a result, the organization has less of an influence on worker performance than the individual’s

Not more than two years ago, I listened to three minority female officers conversing on the difficulties of being a female officer. Though women have been accepted into police force, it has been a very slow and difficult process. What follows is a brief chronology of their struggle to become assimilated into and become an important part NYC’s “finest” – the N.Y.P.D.

Gender inequality has been a hot topic throughout the last several decades. A majority of the research on gender inequality has been focused on the unequal and unfair treatment of women in the home, the workplace, in politics, etc. While research on gender inequality covers many areas of concern, it generally does not take into consideration the legal system inequalities that men may face. Also, a large amount of research has been done on unfair police and judicial interactions with men, but very little has not been done on the overall gender disparity of those seeking legal help. This research presents an exploratory analysis of gender and its influence

Over a century ago Canada has developed many different kinds of police forces to protect and serve the communities in which they work in. That being said there the many types of police forces out there range from municipal police forces that serve smaller, close-knit communities, provincial police forces, and federal police forces that many jobs in law enforcement fall under. Some of them in particular are the military, correctional service of Canada, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which is also widely known as the RCMP. Therefore, I will be writing about how I support my position on a personal and political concern involving the issue of gender equality and women’s rights in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which has been an ongoing struggle to equal out the playing field for those women and members of the LGBT+ community wanting to apply to the police force. The RCMP is a sexist institution. Women and the LGBT+ community members in the RCMP institution are fighting for equal rights and equal treatment among all of its employees. Therefore, my research question is there anything being done to help equalize out the power relations, fix the gender disparities, and promote women’s rights, with the help of liberal feminist ideals within the RCMP?

It would be foolish to assert that gender plays no role in the criminal justice system, just as it would be equally foolish to say that race plays no role in this system either. Covington and Bloom cite the work of Kivel (1992) in reminding all that "Where sexism is prevalent, one of the gender dynamics frequently found is that something declared genderless or gender neutral is, in fact, male oriented. The same phenomenon occurs in terms of race in a racist society, where the term "race neutral" generally means white" (2003). The criminal justice system reflects the needs of men and the values of men in a highly patriarchal society; the issue becomes more complicated when some scholars argue that women should fight for equal rights in all areas of life, including the criminal justice system, arguing that while equal treatment might hurt women in the short run, in the long run, it's the best policy for women (Covington & Bloom, 2003). On the other hand, opposing groups argue that women are inherently different from men and that insisting on equality will always create a situation where women lose out (Covington & Bloom, 2003). This debate creates an uncertain situation about how women should be treated in the criminal justice system and whether gender should play a role accounting for differential treatment.

There is also discrimination in the police force. According to Women and the Criminal Justice System, women are discriminated against when seeking a job in the police force (Wormer and Bartollas, 2007). Society and men who are already on the police force believes that women are too weak to carry out law and unable to capture criminals. This is an example of men being the dominant group over women. In society, women are known to be soft-hearted, loving, emotional and supportive. These characteristics make women look weak as a police officer. However, studies have shown that women are just as effective police

Gender inequality still plays a huge role in today’s society. Women comprise only a small percentage of the local law enforcement agencies across the nation. Women have been a part of law enforcement since the 20th century but have only been noticed within the last 40 years. Back in the 1970’s women rarely held positions in law enforcement and if they did it was mainly clerical/desk positions. Even though the amount of women in law enforcement today has increased, women still only make up roughly around 13 percent of the law enforcement work force (Public). Women can make such an impact in the Law Enforcement field if given a fair chance but they may face many problems when doing so. Some say that women don’t belong, while others suggest

When it comes to race within law enforcement, male police officers still question whether women can handle the dangerous situations and physical confrontations that officers may be confronted with, while it is shown that most police women have easily met the expectations of their superiors. Indeed, studies have found that, in general, male and female officers perform in similar ways. In addition, research has found that most citizens have positive things to say about the work of police women (Worden,

Role schema, which is the cognitive structure that organizes one’s knowledge about appropriate behaviors, tells the audience that the police officer initial purpose was to help Chris and Rose. The role and expectations associated with these categories are commonly referred to as stereotypes – mental representations of social groups and their members that are widely shared. (Hamilton & Sherman, 1994; Macrae, Stangor & Hewstone, 1996; and Stangor & Lange, 1994). Expectations from our memory tell us how police officers are to act through real life situations we experience and from what we are taught. We then make inferences and judge whether the officer is acting “correct” based upon these experiences and teachings. The term ‘correct’ is subjective, and define differently from out group members to stigmatized group members. Police officers’ purpose is to protect and serve civilians; however, social expectation theory challenges the role schema of police.